Chapter 322: The Three Great Ascensions_2
The four who had climbed onto the city wall were now standing atop it, overlooking the inner city, Gu Yuzhi curiously surveying Stone City within the Dark Realm.
It bore a significant resemblance to the real Stone City.
"This must be Stone City from a year ago, right?" Gu Yuzhi said.
"How did General Gu deduce that?" Chen Xing asked, looking at Gu Yuzhi.
"Because I ordered that area to be demolished and rebuilt into a square eight months ago, but it still looks like a building now." Gu Yuzhi pointed to a district in the southern part of the city, "And the stone tower beside it was something I built only two years ago, yet it appears here, so the time must be between eight months and two years ago."
Dong Fang asked with curiosity, "Are there no other creatures in here? We haven't encountered any native life forms on our way here, apart from that black fog."
"There are, but very few," Chen Xing said.
There were indeed native monsters in the Dark Realm, but they were extremely rare.
It was because the Shadow Giant City in the Dark Realm had an exit.
Hence, the previous Demon Eagles had driven many monsters toward the exit, also as a way to test and see if there was a method to leave the Dark Realm.
On the other hand, as a Dark Realm Arbiter, Sìxiàng naturally exerted a great suppression over the native monsters of the Dark Realm, similar to how mice sense the presence of a cat. Wherever Sìxiàng appeared, the native monsters of the Dark Realm would avoid it from a distance, daring not to come close.
Hearing Chen Xing's response, Dong Fang nodded to himself, agreeing that indeed, they hadn't encountered a single one all along the way.
If it were on the prime material plane, no matter how barren the place, it would be impossible not to encounter a single monster on such a long road.
Sìxiàng was getting ready to take them back to the prime material plane when suddenly it stopped its action.
"Master, we can't get out," it said to Chen Xing.
"Is there an ambush outside?"
Sìxiàng shook its head, "When I tried to leave the Dark Realm, I felt resistance, as if there was another force pushing from outside the door."
"So the outside is shrouded by the Power of Laws," Gu Yuzhi spoke up.
Dong Fang sighed, "The Power of Laws can restrict spatial abilities to some extent unless one possesses an equal level of Space Law. Your Beast Taming felt resistance, which indicates that the prime material plane is shrouded by the Power of Laws, it's just unknown how extensive the shrouded area is."
Hearing Sìxiàng's description, a heavy feeling settled in Chen Xing's heart.
So he had Sìxiàng try.
After several attempts at different points, it was found that the entire Stone City was enveloped by the Power of Laws.
Such a vast area covered by the Power of Laws... Enjoy exclusive content from empire
"Ascension has made its move," Gu Yuzhi said gravely.
The speed at which Ascension acted in Fentian Giant City was faster than expected.
They journeyed at full speed within the Dark Realm, barely stopping.
Even so, by the time they swiftly reached Stone City within the Dark Realm, the Stone City on the prime material plane was already shrouded by the Laws.
The entire Stone City was likely facing an ominous fate.
The group exchanged looks, thankful they hadn't been traveling on the prime material plane.
If they had been traveling on the prime material plane, they would have likely run headlong into the encirclement laid by Ascension.
"It's likely that everyone in Stone City has already..." Dong Fang trailed off without finishing his sentence.
Gu Yuzhi closed his eyes, his chest rising and falling slightly.
Although he had lived in Stone City with an assumed identity for several hundred years, he had stayed here for so long, to be honest, even longer than he had in Great Xia.
Sometimes, in certain moments, he even considered it his second homeland.
"No matter, before departing I had already alerted the confidants in the City Lord's Mansion. They should have...left," Gu Yuzhi said with difficulty.
Ming Junting looked at Gu Yuzhi and said, "It seems Fentian Giant City intends to 'kill the chicken to scare the monkey.' With Ascension making a move, it's a show of force to all powers.
It's hard to find the living, and even if they are found, the propagandistic effect might not be effective. Stone City, being such an obvious target, makes the best example."
"I understand," Gu Yuzhi said calmly, "I had already prepared myself mentally before acting. Since we're in the Dark Realm, let's simply traverse back to Great Xia through the Dark Realm."
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There was no need to think to know that the Fentian Giant City was on high alert; attempting to use the Teleportation Array in any city within the Fentian Domain carried the risk of exposure at this time.
After all, it was not possible for them to go to a city and have the Teleportation Array immediately activate for them.
Therefore, the safest option was still to traverse back to Great Xia directly from the Dark Realm, although this would take more time, it was safer.
Chen Xing frowned, "What about the others?"
The Huangshi Mercenary Group, along with members from three other Mercenary Corps, now lacked the support of Stone City.
Without their assistance, the few Mercenary Corps wandering in the wilderness would only become targets.
Gu Yuzhi looked deeply at Chen Xing, "Fentian Giant City is searching for them now, and there might even be Ascendants lurking in this area. Are you sure you want to stay and look for them?"
The figures of Han Yuning and Zhao Guangming and others emerged in Chen Xing's mind.
He had no idea if the mentor was in Stone City.
If the mentor was in Stone City, then the odds were more likely bad than good... Worry rose within Chen Xing.
"I'm staying," Chen Xing said with a heavy voice. "Besides, I remember Great Xia also has its Ascendants. You've mentioned before that Great Xia has its own Ascendants to counter the others. I can't believe the Ascendant of Fentian Giant City could act so recklessly for such a long time."
"Alright, Old Gu, no need to test the kid," Dong Fang said discontentedly, "Xiao Chen and we are the same kind of people."
Hearing Chen Xing's response, Gu Yuzhi felt a silent apology in his heart for suspecting a gentleman with a villain's mind, and immediately apologized to Chen Xing, "I'm sorry, I apologize to you."
"However, we can wait for a while, and we can't come out within Stone City. We can find a place in the deep mountains nearby to return to the main plane first," Dong Fang suggested.
"I think that's a good idea," Ming Junting said.
The four of them stayed in Stone City of the Dark Realm, waiting until the Power of Laws shrouding Stone City on the main plane dissipated. Then they found a secluded spot outside the city to return to the main plane.
As soon as they appeared on the main plane, rolling heatwaves hit their faces.
Chen Xing withdrew his hand that had been supporting him against the mountain wall.
The nearby mountain had been turned into a mountain of fire.
Scorching heatwaves continually emerged from the surface of the mountain, which now seemed like a giant steamer, with white fog constantly seeping out from within it.
The air was filled with burning hot waves, constantly distorting.
All the plants on the mountain had withered, coiled into lumps of black charcoal.
Looking towards Stone City from between the gaps of the two mountains.
Chen Xing's heart trembled; Stone City had vanished, leaving only a gigantic pit in its place!
Dense black fog continuously billowed out from the bottom of the pit.
"Is this the work of an Ascendant?" Chen Xing's eyes flashed with shock.
Changing the landscape on such a large scale; Stone City might not have been very large, but it wasn't a small city either.
It could be considered a medium-to-large scale city.
Yet such a city had been completely incinerated to ash, wiped off the map, while the nearby mountains had all been irradiated, their plants burned to charcoal, and all the water within the mountains utterly dried up.
In the coming years, this area is likely to be barren.
Unless a Water Element Ascendant or Wood Element Ascendant reshapes the landscape again.
Transcendence might also have destructive power, but it's still far from this level.
"It's not an ordinary Ascendant," Dong Fang spoke gravely, "It must have been one of the old monsters of the Fentian Domain. Definitely not a newly broken-through ordinary Ascendant. Even though ordinary Ascendants have astonishing destructive power, it's not this exaggerated."
"Which one from the Fentian Domain made the move?" Gu Yuzhi looked towards Ming Junting.
As a Commandant of the Jin Ye Guard, Ming Junting certainly knew more than the two others outside.
Ming Junting frowned, "As far as we know, Fentian Giant City has only three public Ascendants."
"One of them is an extremely old Red Dragon, lying in the depths of the Fentian Temple. It's said that the old Red Dragon failed its breakthrough and is now bedridden."
"Another one is a new Ascendant, so it shouldn't be him."
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